Role playing is a great way to get volunteers thinking about the service experience. It doesn't have to take a long time. Just take a few minutes to have the group act out different parts of the service. Some people can act while others watch. Each person should be a different character--a volunteer, an adult leader, a patient at the nursing home, a member of the community, the director of the shelter, or others who were involved in the service. You might even include someone who benefitted indirectly, such as a parent of a child at the day care or the mayor of the town.

When playing the character, the volunteer should try to imagine how that person felt and why they acted as they did. This gives you an extra insight into the people you worked with. This could help, too, if you had trouble relating to someone you met or if something happened that you hadn't expected.

The people watching the role play should remain silent and neutral until the end, when they can add their own opinions or ideas for what happened.

If the role play goes too long or strays off the topic, end the activity. Make sure you wrap up by talking about what you learned from re-enacting the service experience.